The AFC/M23 alliance has accused the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo of launching attacks against civilians in the Minembwe area, warning that the actions could undermine the peace talks scheduled to take place in Switzerland.
The spokesperson of AFC/M23, Lawrence Kanyuka, said that coalition forces aligned with the government in Kinshasa carried out attacks targeting civilian areas on Saturday and continued the operations on Sunday.
In a statement released by Kanyuka, the alliance claimed that the Kinshasa government had deliberately chosen to disrupt the dialogue process planned in Switzerland.
According to the statement, “From Saturday night, April 11, 2026, at 10:00 p.m. until Sunday at 4:00 a.m., the Kinshasa regime carried out drone strikes on densely populated areas of Minembwe and surrounding locations.”
Kanyuka added that such actions appear aimed at weakening the peace process by refusing to respect commitments related to the upcoming negotiations.
Delegations from the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and representatives of the AFC/M23 alliance are expected to hold peace talks from April 13 to April 17, 2026, in Switzerland.
The mediation effort is being facilitated by Qatar, which requested Switzerland to host the talks. The discussions were previously held in Doha but had to be relocated due to the ongoing conflict involving the United States and Israel against Iran, which has affected several countries across the Middle East.
According to Jeune Afrique, the talks scheduled for April 13 will take place outside the city of Geneva. Switzerland will not directly participate in the negotiations, while Qatari representatives are expected to join the discussions via video conference.